Bob Corritore & Friends — “High Rise Blues” — VizzTone
Once again, Bob Corritore opens the door to his seemingly endless supply of fine Chicago-style blues in another star-studded album filled with tough, old-school blues.
Corritore’s interesting backstory is well known by now, or should be. In 1981, the then-25-year-old blues harp player moved from Chicago to Phoenix, where he opened his blues club, the Rhythm Room in ’91. The club became not only a showplace for great blues artists, but a source of recording sessions that he’s stored away for years, and which are now emerging as the backbone of his powerful “From the Vaults” series.
The result is albums like “High Rise Blues,” which overflow with great music from great artists, especially the uniquely tough, hard-driving blues style born and raised in Chicago. Corritore shows up with his soaring harp on these cuts, holding his own, even enhancing the work of the bluesmasters.
These 14 tracks, all previously unreleased and reaching back to 1992, are a master class in Chicago blues taught by some of its premier practitioners, many long gone, including Bo Diddley, Jimmy Rogers, Koko Taylor, Magic Slim, Sam Lay, Pinetop Perkins, Chico Chism, Luther Tucker, John Brim, Eddy Clearwater, John Primer, Willie “Big Eyes” Smith, Lil’ Ed, Bob Reidy, Manuel Arrington, and Eddie Taylor, Jr.
The tracks here read like the lineup for a legendary blues festival. They include Jimmy Rogers, “Last Time”; Magic Slim, “Buddy Buddy Friends”; “Chico Chism”; Luther Tucker, “High Rise Blues”; Koko Taylor, “Twenty-Nine Ways”; Manuel Arrington, “Candy Bars”; Eddie Taylor Jr., “Short Haired Woman”; Sam Lay, “Honey Where You Going”; John Primer, “Why Are You So Mean To Me”; Pinetop Perkins, “Grinder Man”; Bo Diddley, “Little Girl”; John Brim, “Hard Pill To Swallow”; Willie “Big Eyes” Smith, “She’s Alright”; Eddie Clearwater, Bob Reid, “Sail A Ship”; and Lil’ Ed, “Caught In The Act.”
You can easily tell just from the names in that list that this promises to be great listening. And it is.
If you’re a fan of great Chicago blues (and how could you possibly not be?), store this one in your own blues vault for safekeeping.
Here’s “Last Time” from the album:
Tracks and more from the CD back cover:
Blues Roadhouse 